The present invention relates to structures for cargo areas for pick-up trucks, and more particularly to means in the form of dividers for partitioning the cargo space and means to anchor the dividers to a liner or a truck pick up box and means for covering a selected divided area.
Structures, such as liners, have been previously provided to protect the beds of pick-up trucks from the abrasive effects of using the truck to haul cargo. These liners have met with considerable commercial success in recent years. Such liners not only protect the bed of the truck, but enhance the appearance of the vehicle. When the vehicle is to be resold the liner can be removed to provide a bed which has the finish originally provided, or it can be replaced with another liner.
However, prior to my prior patent applications, no such structure has been provided with means to partition the cargo space into areas of selected sizes to accommodate different cargo, and to provide a means of maintaining the cargo in place as it is being transported by the vehicle. Further, the provision of means to cover selected divided cargo areas appears to be new.
Recently truck manufacturers have elected to construct the truck bed of plastic or similar material negating the need for a protective bed liner. A need remains to partition such truck beds into compartments.
In one form of the present invention, a liner is provided which is intended to be used to protect a bed of a pick-up truck, and which includes partitioning means which permits the liner to be partitioned to accommodate cargos of various sizes. The partitioning means takes the form of dividers and slots or the like, formed in the liner to receive the dividers. The dividers can also be provided with slots to receive dividers to thereby provide a variety of configurations to accommodate cargos of sizes over a wide range. With the dividers locked in place, cargo can be placed in the cargo areas defined by the dividers and will be retained in place as the cargo is transported by the truck.
Means are provided to securely lock the divider to the bed of the pick-up truck or to the truck bed liner.
The present invention can also be in the form of the truck bed itself of a pick-up truck being provided with slots or similar means to accommodate dividers to divide the box into distinct cargo areas.
When the truck bed is provided with the slots to receive the dividers means are provided to lock the dividers to the truck bed.
A cover is provided which is adapted to fit over and cover selected cargo areas formed by the dividers.